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Exercise is good not only for your health, so you can live longer, but also for your wallet. As reported by the Huffington Post, a new study has underlined the importance of exercise, and how it helps people save money through fewer healthcare bills each year.

The new research paper was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, and it looked at the data from a national survey in 2012 of twenty-six thousand American adults who have used the association’s exercise recommendation of at least thirty minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise five times a week.

The study has found that American adults with diseases such as heart attack, arrhythmias or peripheral artery disease, coronary and artery (cardiovascular diseases), who exercised regularly, spent $2,500 less on health care than those who didn’t exercise.

For those who are ‘healthy,’ with no heart disease, etc., and exercise regularly, the research has found that they saved $500 on average in yearly medical cost compared to the healthy participants who didn’t exercise.

Senior author Khurram Nasir, M.D., M.P.H. says their study also emphasize the favorable impact on how much Americans pay for healthcare. He also added that the message is clear: there is no better pill in reducing the risk of diseases and healthcare costs than ‘optimizing physical activity.’

AHA recommends

For cardiovascular health, the association recommends at least thirty minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity five days a week, or at least twenty-five minutes of vigorous aerobic activity three days in a week. People can also combine the two if they want.

Moderate activity means exercise including light sweat or only modest increases in breathing or heart rate. Examples of this are fast walking, heavy cleaning or lawn mowing. Meanwhile, vigorous activity includes race walking or running, aerobics or lap swimming. AHA says heart patients should work with their healthcare team to achieve exercise goals.

According to the CDC, about six-hundred and ten thousand Americans die of heart disease, and that is one in every four people. Heart disease is also the leading cause of death for both men and women, but more than half of the deaths due to heart disease in 2009 were in men.